The Statement Read Before The U.S. Congress

The Statement Read Before The U.S. Congress:

Statement by the University of Rochester Research Team Studying the Developmental Effects of Methylmercury in People as Read by Dr. Gary J. Myers to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. July 29, 2003.
http://www.epw.senate.gov/108th/Myers_072903.htm

The Purpose of this Statement Read Before The U.S. Congress:
The University of Rochester research team studying the developmental effects of methylmercury in people wanted to formally go on the record to tell The U.S. Congress the state of the science of mercury found in fish eaten by people.

Some Background, Methods, Results, Caveats, and Other Select Points:

• Dr. Myers is speaking in part about the results from the large, Seychelles Island Child Development Study (SCDS) that he has participated in for about 30 years.
• The SCDS investigates what affect(s) methylmercury has on the developing, unborn child when the child’s mother eats lots of fish with similar methylmercury levels in fish eaten in the United States.
• Through 107 months (9 years) – during when over 57 different things for each Seychelles Islands child test subject were thoroughly investigated and studied - the SCDS finds only three statistical associations with methylmercury exposure in the womb.
  
  1. One of these associations was a bad affect;
  2. The second was a good affect; and
  3. The third was rather neutral.
     
• Because these three associations could occur solely by chance, they do not support the idea that bad developmental affects are caused by methylmercury in the womb in the range of methylmercury levels commonly seen in people who eat a lot of fish.
• Most fish caught commercially in the oceans of the United States have less than one-half part per million of methylmercury (one-half part of methylmercury for every one million parts of fish meat) in the fish meat. Some U.S. freshwater fish have more than one part per million of methylmercury in the fish meat. The infamous, extreme-methylmercury-contaminated fish that caused the historic mercury poisoning in some Japanese fishing villagers who lived on the fish they caught had as much as 40 parts per million of methylmercury.
• All fish contain some methylmercury. As a result, every person who eats fish is exposed to methylmercury. Regularly eating fish in a balanced diet can result in hair methylmercury levels as great as 10 parts per million or more. The U.S., average, hair, methylmercury level is less than one part per million.
• Women in the Seychelles Islands eat fish everyday. As such, they are a sentinel, human, fish-eating population with methylmercury levels 10 times higher than found in U.S. women.
• If Seychelles Island women have greater levels of methylmercury exposure, then their children should be more likely to show bad affects from methylmercury exposure - if there are any bad affects.
• These Seychelles Island children do not have any bad effects caused by methylmercury through 9 years of age. This suggests that eating ocean fish is safe when there is no local source of industrial pollution putting high levels of mercury into the local environment.
• Bad affects caused by 12 to 15 parts per million or more of methylmercury may exist but there were too few people in the SCDS with these high methylmercury levels to allow these researchers to detect and then prove a statistical association - if one exists.

A Bottom Line:
Dr. Myers and his fellow SCDS researchers do not believe in 2003 that there is presently good scientific evidence that eating fish in moderation harms the unborn child.

Fish is an important source of protein in many countries. Many mothers around the world rely on eating fish for good nutrition. Good maternal nutrition is essential to the baby’s health. There is more and more evidence that the nutrients in fish are important for human brain development. These fish nutrients may also be good for heart and brain functions of senior citizens.

Find This Statement Before The U.S. Congress for Your Review:
Statement by the University of Rochester Research Team Studying the Developmental Effects of Methylmercury in People as Read by Dr. Gary J. Myers to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. July 29, 2003.
http://www.epw.senate.gov/108th/Myers_072903.htm